Children can feel and express anger at a very young age. As they grow older, their understanding towards people and things around them starts to advance. Therefore, their way of expressing anger will also change, eventually.

As they grow up, situations that will cause them to become angry will increase. By now, they tend to understand more about their surroundings and had been in a lot of situations that would probably make them angry. All these are part of their development process.

The family plays a very important role in the emotional growth of the children, which has a direct influence on how they feel and the way they express their anger. Research shows that most children tend to imitate the behavior of their parents, whether directly or indirectly. So please, do not do things that you would not want your children to follow, in front of them. The surrounding at home is also very important as it plays a key role in the emotional development of the children.

I will share with you 5 very simple, yet proven to be effective ways that you can handle your children when they are in anger. They are also found at Child Anger Management – Helping Young Children with Anger, Effectively.

1. As a responsible parent, try to change the environment at home to prevent experiences or situations that will lead to unnecessary stress, anger or frustration between you and your children.
2. Do not take their anger personally. This will have direct influence on them. The angrier you are, the more anger they might have inside them too. Take a break before everything goes out of hand.
3. Try to direct their attention away from the current situation. Try to distract them from the situation, and get a break to cool things off before it gets worse.
4. It is very important that we as parents do not give in when our children is having their tantrums. If we do, they will think that by acting in that way, they can get what they want from us.
5. Do not lecture or hit your children when they are in anger, or for no particular reasons. It will only make things worse. Keep it for another day. Try to have a slow conversation with them to cool them down.

Which educational DVD/VCD should I get? Or should I get a subscription channel instead? Will the show be beneficial for my child?

I’m sure that these questions flash pass your mind when you enter a video shop or aisle while you are shopping at the supermarket.

Nowadays the choices are plentiful with a wide array of child specialist promoted or recommended VCDs/DVDS and even dedicated baby channels such parents are spoilt for choice.

There are many experts who proclaim that children under 2 yrs old should not be exposed to television. I beg to differ as through my personal experience a moderate and co-viewing of programs does help to teach my children certain basic concepts.

Babies one year old and under are very impressionable and their minds absorb like sponges. Their ability to learn and comprehend should not be understated and taken for granted.

TV viewing is very powerful and the graphical representations on screen extremely captivating. It is a rich source of learning and can assist the parent in showing the child items/pictures which could not be seen in normal daily life. Eg: Animals in the zoo. Babies are also introduced the the various

I have seen my kids eyes been fixed on the screen every time a particular jingle is played while they watched the program I pre-selected for them. They stare mesmerized to the screen throughout the duration .while trying to imitate the dance movement or sing-along with the characters. Through repeated viewings of the program they learn how to associate certain objects Ie: Apple with the word.

Through the visuals and sounds they see and hear from the program they get a grasp of how a certain item looks like and the associated sound of the word which is linked to it. It also helped in building up their vocabulary.

So what should you choose? DVD/VCD or subscription to a channel?

There is no clear answer to this question.

Personally, I would recommend DVDs as compared to channel subscription. It would work out cheaper as you can always rent them from video shops or libraries to see it’s content suitability for your child.

Here is my take on paid channel subscription.

BabyFirstTV- the latest explosion onto the scene has sparked up a lot of interest in parents concerning it’s suitability for their precious kids.It was featured in Jan 2008 on ChannellNewsAsia during their Primetime morning show. There was also a month-long free preview on Cable TV. The many different educational programs available on that channel and the modest subscription pricing makes it a great bargain for parents who are looking for commercial free channel subscription.

I have previewed BabyFirstTV and personally feel that it does little to add to a baby’s knowledge and learning ability. In fact my four year old that enjoyed the programs we previewed together as he was able to related to certain actions/activities which he has had prior knowledge on. My one year old on the other hand only occasionally glanced at the program that was being aired and was more interested in playing with his shape-sorter then watching the show on television. He spent the most 2-3 mins watching the show.

DVDs that I have watched and would recommend are

For 1-2yr olds – Barney and Hi-5 series

Barneyand Hi-5 both have music & movement, story telling and cover a wide range of topics. The VCD/DVD are very entertaining and educational for young kids.

Personal relationship and various day to day happenings are addressed in these series.

Besides these VCDs/DVDs there are a many other equally good in their educational value but I will save those recommendations for later.

Moderation in viewing of these programs are advised by many experts. I normally set a time limit of the maximum 1hr for a show on the TV.

Co-viewing is also recommended as parents make the viewing of the show more interactive and stimulated.

Parents can point out interesting things in the show or highlight desired behaviour in their kids. They could also act on their child’s interest in a certain part of the show , IE: viewing of cows in the barn, to do a follow up with an actual visit to a farm or reading about a farms while visiting the library.

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